


For Want of an Apple (an Empire was Lost)

by Andrina_Nightshade



Series: Andrina's Canonverse Short Fics [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Apple Bobbing, Apples, Ben Solo Is An Idiot, Comedy of Errors, Crack Treated Seriously, Crack with Some Plot, F/M, First Kiss, Force Bond Shenanigans, Happily Ever After, allusions to torture but no one is actually tortured, awkward mother-son reunions, told via flashback
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26985235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andrina_Nightshade/pseuds/Andrina_Nightshade
Summary: So as an apple drove out humanity from the Garden of Eden, so too did the Supreme Leadership of Kylo Ren end as the result of an apple...Written for the Reylo Readers and Writers Spooktacular Collection. Day 13: Apple bobbing
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Andrina's Canonverse Short Fics [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989178
Comments: 19
Kudos: 41
Collections: Reylo Hidden Gems, Reylo Readers & Writers - The Spooktacular Collection





	For Want of an Apple (an Empire was Lost)

**Author's Note:**

> What do you get if you combine a beloved autumnal tradition (apple bobbing), with Star Wars canonverse? Apparently, this... Serious fic with a crack plot, or crack fic with serious moments? I'll let you decide...

**Part 1: Kylo**

Leia Organa-Solo, Princess-turned-rebel-turned-Senator-turned-General, had a reputation for being unflappable. (Of course, to those who had known her in the early days of her courtship with Han Solo, this would have been laughable.) 

But, in matters of galactic importance, she was able to school her features, shield her emotions, and at least maintain the illusion of the collected politician.

So, when faced with the Supreme Leader of the First Order, a war criminal, her husband's killer, and her errant only child, staring at her petulantly across a cell, Leia merely pinched her brow and said in as dispassionate a tone as she could muster, "Tell me again what happened."

He merely sulked in response - an expression no different to when she had tried to put him to bed early as a toddler.

The memory stung in her heart.

When his TIE Silencer had landed on Ajan Kloss mere hours ago, she had expected a myriad of things. Leia Organa had won political games by perceiving multiple outcomes, and being prepared for them.

This was a surrender.

This was the prelude to a full on assault.

This was a negotiation.

The resulting comedy of errors which ensued she could assuredly not have predicted, had she drowned an entire crate of Corellian whiskey and followed it up with a spice chaser for good measure.

"I thought she was being tortured," Ben (for he had never been anything other than Ben to her, no matter what mask he wore or false titles he laid claim to) eventually said. "What else was I supposed to think?"

"Oh, I'm not questioning your logic," Leia said. "I'm questioning why the kriff that would matter to you?"

A flash of rage filled his eyes. "So if Rey were being tortured, you wouldn't care?" He gave a derisory snort. "Typical Senator Organa. Everyone is expendable. Even your son."

Leia fought the urge to scream, and dispensed with her facade of calm. "Of course I would care if Rey were being harmed! The question is, why do you care? She is one of _my_ people - and last time I checked, she was your _enemy_."

Ben's eyes had always been too expressive. No sooner had the words left her mouth than she saw the answer in his gaze. "Oh," she said, for the first time ever lost for words. "That's... unexpected."

* * *

**12 standard hours earlier….**

Kylo Ren had not expected to fly to Ajan Kloss that day. He had expected to train with his knights, attend another boring strategy meeting, ignore some sycophants, and maybe even Force choke Hux if the ginger irritant gave him reason. (Well, a Supreme Leader had to combat the ennui _somehow_ , but even Force choking was beginning to lose its savage pleasure.)

The only possible glimmer amongst the tedium was the tantalising possibility of the Force connecting him to Rey today…

Their interactions, since Crait, had gone from angry shouting matches to weepy moments to cordial. On their last meeting, he had been close enough to tuck a single stray hair behind her ear - and had spent endless hours after her disappearance imaging his face nuzzled between the soft strands.

And if he spent his nights fantasizing about her in a _far_ less chaste manner… well, that was between him and his right hand.

As he slumped in his throne, casting a morose eye over the vast emptiness of the room, he sighed. The freedom of his own mind now that Snoke was gone was indeed a blessing. But he had never been so lonely. And that was a far more depressing thought than he cared to entertain.

One again, his thoughts drifted to a beautiful and fierce scavenger-turned-Jedi whose absence had left a scar upon his very heart…

Perhaps the universe heard that thought, and elected to be kind for once. As if sensing his need for comfort and connection, he felt that subtle shift in the air, that gentle buzz of the Force that heralded the opening of their bond.

Kylo sat up straight, pathetically eager. Already, he could feel the pounding of her heart in his chest in anticipation.

_Maybe today I’ll get to actually kiss her…_

Pleasant thoughts soon evaporated as he felt a sudden gush of cold over his face. His teeth chattered, and growing dread filled him.

Something was wrong… 

And then Rey appeared.

She was bent over a large durasteel barrel, her hands bound behind her back with torn and dirty rags, and her head appeared to be submerged. She lifted it for a few seconds, greedily gulping at the air without opening her eyes, before re-submerging her face with a splash.

Kylo was on his feet in an instant. Force, what was happening? Who was torturing her - for what could this be other than some cruel and brutal torture? He reached for her, to pull her away, hell to try and pull her through the galaxy itself if he could, and into the safety of his arms...

But before his fingers could even graze her clothing, the Force tore them apart…

A scream tore forth from Kylo’s throat - surely loud enough to echo in every chamber and crevice of the _Finalizer._ He sank to his knees, gut contorted in knots and breaths escaping him in harsh pants.

Rey was in danger; and Kylo Ren would not stand idly by whilst his love was enduring untold horrors and agonies.

So he forced a calm into his mind, even as this heart thundered with barely concealed panic. The memory of her bound and submerged - really, what crass and simple torture! - was seared onto his eyelids. Kylo had drawn power from his rage, his pain before… and yes, he would need that power soon.

But at that moment, he reached out with the Force, opened himself to it and let it flow through him. He knew Rey's Force signature, as intimately as if it were his own. They were perfect mirrors - mix of light and dark.

Across the galaxy, he felt for her, unfurling a tendril of his force signature until it entwined with hers. Despite the torment she was undoubtedly enduring - and his blood seethed with vengeful desire to destroy those who would dare harm her - she was oddly centred and calm. But, his brave girl, even as they were hurting her, remained impassable and calm. She would not be broken under whatever torture or duress these monsters cared to inflict upon her… The Force would protect her.

But Kylo knew well from experience that _anyone_ could break with the right inducement... 

So he sent soothing thoughts to her… Memories of a touch across the galaxy, of all the tenderness and strength he could muster. _You’re not alone. Do not be afraid._

_I love you._

Those thoughts might comfort Rey if they were able to reach her, but they would do little to physically help her.

And those who saw her as a target would soon feel the full wrath of the Supreme Leader unleashed upon them…

And _now,_ now he delved into the chasm of rage and pain to power him. Kylo had long suspected that, with their connection, he _might_ be able to track her via the Force. Reach out across endless stretches of stars and planets and nebulae, to find that single heart he loved more than anything.

Of course, he has never attempted it before. Using it to hunt the Resistance seemed unsportsmanlike (and a waste of effort, given how trivial their numbers and arsenal) - and anyway, he doubted that even if he did go to Rey that she would simply leap into his arms and agree to be his Empress. He was infinitely more likely to end up impaled upon her lightsaber.

(Thank the Force for providing him with some protection from her violent tendencies, otherwise he would have been dead given the sheer magnitude of her post-Crait fury…)

But he would test that power today - and if he rescued her, perhaps her heart might soften towards him…

Officers and Stormtroopers stared at him with quizzical tilts of their head as Kylo marched through the corridors of the _Finalizer._ His steps were heavy, and he almost seemed to vibrate with fury. Those few who looked to be considering approaching him were silenced with a mere withering look from him.

Even Hux had scarpered - which Kylo might have relished had he not had a more essential quest in mind.

_Stay strong, my love. I'm coming for you._

None questioned his destination or intent as he climbed into his TIE Silencer. No one made moves to stop him as he departed the hangar of the _Finalizer,_ and turned off his comms.

With a single flick, Kylo guided the ship into hyperspace, closed his eyes, and prayed he would not be too late...

* * *

**Part 2: Rey**

The mess hall was abuzz; anger, fear, hope, confusion all vibrated in the air, and whispers and rumours passed between two dozen worried faces. The whole moon felt as though it were upon the precipice of falling into chaos. And Rey knew exactly what had caused such disequilibrium…

It had begun the moment a TIE Silencer had appeared in the atmosphere over Ajan Kloss. Only one man would fly such a vessel… 

Truthfully, Rey had sensed him before the ship appeared on their scanners. Though their bond did not necessarily give unfettered access to one another’s location and thoughts (and a good thing too, as many of her dreams of Ben/Kylo had been somewhat less than pure…), she could sense his presence as he entered the system.

There could be no good reason for his coming here…

Rey had been already halfway to the control room to warn General Leia (though how she was going to explain exactly _where_ this new intel had come from she had not yet worked out) when his ship broke through the clouds and the matter was rendered moot.

But when the TIE Silencer had landed, and Ben had emerged in full Supreme Leader regalia, his cracking red lightsaber aloft, his features had softened upon seeing her, before melting into a look of puzzlement as dozens of blasters were pointed at him.

He had darkened his saber, tossed it to the ground, and bolted towards her before enfolding her in his arms.

In front of her friends, the entire Resistance _and_ his kriffing estranged mother, the Supreme Leader was clinging to her and weeping into her hair.

Now, Ben was in some makeshift cell, facing Leia for the first time in a decade - and the first time since he had murdered his father and attempted to blow her ship out of the sky. The Force itself seemed to quake in nervous anticipation of that reunion.

Rey placed her head in her hands. His emotional turmoil was a tangible thing across the Bond - with him so close, she could almost feel his heart pounding in her own chest.

What was he doing _here_?

She could feel dozens of eyes upon her- had done since the moment Ben had _hugged_ her in front of an audience of his enemies.

Rey started when a soft hand was placed on her shoulder. Her eyes snapped upwards, and she found Kaydel gazing at her with a soft expression. "Hey, the General wants to see you."

Those words sent ice into Rey's heart.

Oh _Force_ , how was she going to explain the bond, that she had kept it hidden, explain what had happened on the _Supremacy?_ Or about the quiet moments she and Ben had shared, the forgiveness, the tentative friendship…?

Or her fear that she might be starting to fall in love with Ben Solo?

Instead of the interrogation room, Rey found herself being led to the General's own quarters amidst a chorus of whispers. 

Kaydel shot her a sympathetic smile before slipping away.

The General was seated at her desk. Despite the turmoil radiating from her, Leia's face was as impassable as a mask. She gestured for Rey to sit. "Tea?" 

Rey shook her hand.

There was a rattle in Leia's cup and saucer as she lifted it to her lips. "It’s been an interesting day to say the least," she began, her voice oddly hoarse. 

Rey nodded, her whole body taut as if anticipating some sort of blow. “Where is Ben?” 

A thin smile played on Leia's lips. "Maz and Chewie are keeping an eye on him. Don’t worry-” the general raised a placating hand, “I took the bowcaster off Chewie. Although both he and Ben suggested that you might be able to help me fill in the gaps, as there are still some things I’m a little confused over?”

Her tongue felt heavy and cloying, as though stuck to the roof of her mouth. Leia seemed to sense that, and pushed a cup towards Rey. She gulped at her tea - scaldingly hot and overly rich and sweet to her tastes - before finding the resolve to speak. "What did you want to know?"

“Let’s start with what you were doing this morning?” Leia said kindly, before leaning backwards in her chair.

* * *

**16 standard hours earlier...**

Sunrise had barely broken over the horizon when Rey awoke to Kaydel shaking her shoulder. "Get up you two!" Kaydel said in a surprisingly chirper tone given the earliness of the hour.

"Do we have to?" came Rose's groan from beneath a blanket nest. "I was on late duties last night!"

A similarly weary sound escaped Rey.

"But it's Harvest Day - the first day of autumn!" Kaydel said, her ebullience evidently unquenchable.

"Kay, this is a jungle moon," Rose retorted. "It doesn’t have seasons - it’s either hot, or wet, or sometimes both on the same day.”

"Not here, Rose! But it's Harvest Day on Naboo, and since none of us have duties today- you're welcome, by the way! - we are going to celebrate it!"

Despite her fatigue, excitement bubbled in Rey’s chest. Jakku had no seasons, and of all the other planets and places she had encountered in the months since leaving, she had never really stayed long enough to experience subtle climate fluctuations like the ones Kaydel and Poe described from their home worlds. Whilst winter sounded brutal in its own way, the concept of autumn was intriguing, and one she wished to see one day.

But for now, partaking in some of its traditions would have to suffice.

Kaydel's idea of celebrating consisted of dragging their little circle of friends - herself, Rey, Rose, Jess, Finn, Poe, and even BB-8 - out to a clearing for a breakfast of rations and berries, followed by what she decreed to be "traditional Harvest Day activities". 

There was singing (mostly from Kaydel, but Finn had eventually joined in with the choruses); there was jumping in piles of leaves from trees that Kaydel had evidently denuded in her determined to stimulate the falling leaves of autumn, and a strange activity she referred to as "apple bobbing".

Now this was an activity Rey could get excited about. Fruit was her greatest love, and though she had heard of apples before, in fireside stories, she had never had the opportunity to try them. She had filed them in some nebulous box in her mind for “the future” (assuming that she might one day have one).

"Is that why you had me make that detour to Naboo after our last mission? So that you could buy kriffing _apples?!_ " Poe groused, eliciting a chorus of hoots and laughters from their friends. "I thought Leia was going to flay me alive for that!"

Kaydel merely shrugged. “You and Beebee got us out of there without any problems - honestly, if you hadn’t been bragging in the mess tent, the General would never have found out, so _technically_ that’s on you.”

Their good-natured banter continued for some minutes before Poe gave up with a heavy sigh. “Fine, but this ‘apple-bobbing’ better be the greatest activity ever given it nearly got us killed!”

With a dazzling grin, Kaydel motioned for the group to follow her. She led them to another part of the clearing, unremarkable except for the presence of a durasteel barrel, whose Aurebesh characters were faded and barely readable even to Rey, who had spent half a lifetime among wreckage and ruin. Kaydel tapped the barrel with a dull thud.

“Apple bobbing,” she began in a mock-formal tone, “Is an ancient and beloved tradition on the morning of Harvest Day. It’s origins date back-”

“Kriffing hell Kay, we don’t need a history lesson!” Poe interrupted, hands on his hips. “Let me guess - the barrel is full of water. Apples float. You put the apples in the apples in the water, and we have to pick them out without using our hands. Am I close?”

Kaydel rolled her eyes. “Spoilsport… But in essence, yes.” With a flourish, she pulled a torn rag from her shirt pocket. “Rules are simple - with your hands tied behind your back, you have to retrieve an apple from the barrel using your mouth only. Fastest to retrieve an apple wins.” 

“Umm, Kay?” Rose said, stepping forward and placing a hand on her friend’s arm. “That - if I’m not mistaken - used to be a grease barrel, and it probably isn’t safe to go sticking our heads in.”

“Don’t worry,” came the bright reply. “I told Threepeeio what we planned to do with it, and once he stopped having a fit about how filthy and unhygienic the tradition was, he helped me clean it. And Beebee, you’ve analysed the water?”

The little astromech inclined its head. “ _Affirmative,”_ it chirped. _“It is cleaner than the water you humanoids drank on the Millennium Falcon.”_

Rey shot a glance at Finn, who looked a little green. A fond smile crept over her face - her friend who could stand up to the might of the First Order; risk life, limb and imprisonment to rescue her; but balked at the idea of anything remotely unsanitary. 

He caught her looking, and leaned in to whisper, “No use asking if they change the water between participants, is there?”

Rey laughed. “Probably not.” 

To her surprise, Finn merely shrugged. “Gotta live a little I suppose?”

Once the group’s objections had been addressed/ignored, Kaydel offered to go first. “Beebee, since you can’t personally take part,” she told the little droid whilst Jess tied her hands behind her back, “Are you happy to keep track of times?”

“ _Affirmative_ ,” the droid replied, and pulled out it’s lighter in an imitation of the thumbs up gesture.

“Excellent!” And Kaydel bent over the barrel to submerge her face in the water. Her head thrashed for a few seconds, before she threw it back and emerged triumphantly with a gleaming red apple between her teeth, to the applause of her friends. “Should have told you I was the champion of this back home,” she said once her hands had been unbound, and she had bitten into the apple with a delicious _crunch_. “But I’ll take myself out of the running in the interest of fairness. Who wants to try next?”

Poe volunteered to go next; his grunts became increasingly frustrated when, four minutes later, he had failed to retrieve an apple, and had come up gasping for breath a few times. He shot Rey a pleading looking as if to say, _Any chance of using the Force to help me?_

She merely shook her head with a grin.

 _Finally,_ eight minutes later he had successfully captured an apple - and taught the group a few unusual and choice Huttese curses in the process. “I think you’ve invented a new form of torture, Kay,” he said as he brushed a towel through his damp hair.

The group took it in turns - Rose and Finn did surprisingly well, although Jess too took a long time to finally retrieve her apple. Finally, it was Rey’s turn.

“No using the Force,” Poe said with a teasing finger wag as he bound her hands tightly. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she retorted. 

She stood over the barrel - half a dozen apples still bobbed gently in the water. At least two still had visible teeth marks from where her friends had attempted to capture them. Though she might prefer an unblemished apple, the memory of starvation was too fresh in her mind, and she had no recourse to be overly picky.

With a deep gulp of air, Rey bent forward and sank her face into the barrel.

Cold water hit her face with the sharpness of a slap. It filled her ears, her nostrils, and a brief moment of panic filled her. 

She remembered the punishing coldness of the pool on Ahch-To; the burning desire for air as her lungs had field with water, and the briefest fear that she would drown in that horrible, dark place without any answers. 

But her mind quickly reminded her that this was not that awful cave; this was a lush jungle planet, and she was surrounded with her friends, playing a silly game…

She fumbled for a few minutes, her lips brushing the flesh of the apples, but every time the fruit slipped away before she could sink her teeth into it. Three times this happened, and her annoyance grew as her lungs began to burn for air, and she felt an insistent buzz at the edge of her consciousness.

Rey lifted her head from the water, swallowing greedy gulps of air, before plunging her head back into the water. A mischievous thought tickled her mind… After all, who was to know if she were to use the Force? 

The fact that Luke Skywalker and a thousand generations of Jedi would balk at such a trivial use only served to encourage her further… 

So she centred herself, and called upon the Force. The water around her seemed to vibrate, and she hoped that none of the friends could sense the shift in the air. She leaned forward an inch, and captured a single crisp apple in her mouth.

As she emerged, her friends clapped (although she was certain she saw a suspicious gleam in Dameron’s eyes). Apple still in her mouth, Rey took a mock bow…

And heard the whisper of a familiar voice into her mind.

_You’re not alone._

_Do not be afraid._

_I love you._

Her jaw slackened, and the apple fell from her mouth, bouncing on BB-8’s head and rolling away in the dirt.

* * *

Throughout Rey’s tale, Leia listened with a neutral expression. But her eyes - those wide, expressive eyes of her son - betrayed her emotions. Astonishment, humour, sadness, puzzlement she read in the subtle lines and flashes of Leia's gaze, without so much as a gasp or hitch of breath.

And once Rey began, the words spilled easily from her lips. Months worth of secrets and omissions, of a bond that defied every law of the Force laid out in the Jedi texts, of a perilous and foolish journey to the heart of the _Supremacy_ , and of a tentative evolving friendship with the man who had hunted the Resistance to near extinction.

Leia regarded Rey in silence for a few minutes. The younger woman squirmed under the attention, and wondered just what tumultuous thoughts were running through the General's mind. 

Finally, Leia sighed. "A remarkable tale… And though this isn't how I expected my son to return to me-" and only then did her voice hitch for but a moment, "I won't complain that it has happened." A thin-lipped smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"Can I see him?" Rey said, her heart quickening in her breast.

The smile broke into a full grin. "Of course you can, Rey."

  
  


* * *

The cell door opened with a creak, and Rey found herself staring into the flushed and dejected face of Ben Solo.

He had clearly not dressed for the humid heat of the jungle; his hair was saturated with sweat (and sticking out every which way from his anxious attentions), and he had stripped off his heavy tunic to reveal a thin black undershirt. Gone were the leather gloves, and even his feet were bare.

Though he continued to look morose, his eyes softened at the sight of her, and he sat up a little straighter. 

Rey shook her head with a sad smile. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're an idiot, Ben Solo?"

He chuckled weakly, and gave a shrug so eerily reminiscent of his father's mannerisms that Rey's heart constricted in her chest. "Your General may have used words to that effect earlier. Not that she could have berated me anymore than I had already done myself." He ran a hand through his hair again.

She slid onto the bunk beside him. "Did you really abandon the First Order, track me through the Force and fly halfway across the Outer Rim because you thought I was in danger?"

"Yes. And as we have already ascertained, I am an idiot."

Rey laughed, and reached out to brush her knuckles over his cheek. "There are worse things to be, Ben."

He leaned into her touch, drank it in as though he were starving for it. "And I'm probably most of those things too."

For several minutes, they sat in silence - the last Jedi and the (now former) Supreme Leader. Rey leaned closer, and pressed her brow to Ben's.

"You know," she said in as light a tone as she could muster, "I heard what you said."

Ben's eyes widened comically, and he flushed scarlet to the very tips of his ears. "Oh, _kriff…_ "

Rey giggled. "I mean, as far as declarations of love go, I'd say it went better than last time. At least neither of us tried to kill the other over a lightsaber this time." And she closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss him.

His lips were dry and chapped from the heat, but oh so very soft… she swallowed his gasp, and took advantage of his open mouth to tease his tongue with her own, before pulling away and gazing into soft eyes.

A breathy sigh escaped him. "You taste like apples," he murmured.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Rey fished around in her satchel and pulled out two glistening scarlet apples. She held one out to Ben.

He rolled his eyes. "After today, I'm afraid I've rather gone off them." But nonetheless, he accepted the fruit, and watched with hungry eyes as Rey bit into the crisp flesh of her own apple, a trickle of liquid meandering down her chin and neck as she ate.

"Nonsense," she said with a full mouth. "I think these are the best fruit ever."

Half amused and half exasperated, he shrugged. "A fitting last meal, I suppose."

"Oh shut up," she retorted, before claiming his mouth in another kiss.

* * *

**Epilogue**

"General Organa!" C-3PO's mechanical whine tore Leia from sleep. "You must come immediately! We have a crisis!"

Blearily, Leia sat up and tugged a robe around her. "What is it now, Threepeeio?" 

"Kylo Ren has escaped!"

The command centre was in chaos when Leia walked in - Dameron was standing in the centre of it all, still dressed in a loose sleep shirt and barking orders at all and sundry.

And, amidst the sea of bodies yelling and frantically scanning the radars, Leia noted one very conspicuous absence…

Connix motioned for the General, and shot her a grim look. "Security footage from Ren's cell. The audio was corrupted but…"

Leia watched the footage of her son on the screen, pacing his cell before his eyes snapped to some unseen figure. Words were exchanged, and Ben extended his hand. 

Almost instantaneously, Rey materialised in the cell, dressed in a travelling cloak. She grabbed Ben's hand, and both of them vanished into the ether.

"What does this mean, General?" Connix asked.

Leia was spared the need to answer by Chewbacca bursting into the room and howling about the _Millennium Falcon_ no longer being in the hanger.

At that, Leia laughed and shook her head, unwilling to answer her subordinates' cascade of questions for some time.

_Like father, like son…_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


End file.
